New York State Primary Election Results: De La Rosa, Alcantara, Niou Claim Wins in Marquee Races

NEW YORK, NY — It was a bad night for incumbents, as two of the three biggest primary races in the city went to upstart challengers Tuesday evening.

Carmen De La Rosa knocked off incumbent Guillermo Linares in the 72nd Assembly District, which represents Washington Heights and Inwood, in dominating fashion, while Yuh-Line Niou dispatched incumbent Alice Cancel in similarly easy fashion to claim the Assembly District long dominated by now-disgraced Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Both were hotly contested races.

"I’m humbled to be the first Asian-American to represent Chinatown, or any part of Manhattan, in the state legislature," Niou told supporters after claiming victory over five other challengers.

Cancel had won a special election in April for the seat vacated by Silver but five months later was soundly defeated by Niou, who earned 32 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, in another one of the most competitive races in the city, Marisol Alcantara won the primary for the State Senate's 31st District. She defeated rivals Micah Lasher and Robert Jackson by just a few hundred votes.

"Because of you, there will once again be a Latina in the New York Senate chamber," Alcantara told her cheering supporters.

It was also a good night for State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez — and neither of them was even in a race. Espaillat, who vacated his 31st District post after claiming victory in June's U.S. Congressional Democratic primary, had handpicked Alcantara as his successor. Rodriguez endorsed his former Chief of Staff De La Rosa in a district race she dominated. He also had endorsed Alcantara.

All three women — Alcantara, De La Rosa and Niou — are expected to win easily in the Nov. 8 general election.

With almost all the precincts reporting as of 1 a.m., here's a look at the full results for those three marquee races:

Senate District 31 — Parts of Midtown, the Upper West Side, Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood

Marisol Alcantara: 8,309 votes (32.43 percent)
Micah Lasher: 7,737 votes (30.19 percent)
Robert Jackson: 7,616 votes (29.72 percent)
234 of 235 precincts reporting

Assembly District 65 — Parts of Financial District, Chinatown, Lower East Side

Yuh-Line Niou: 2,742 votes (31.55 percent)
Jenifer Rajkumar: 1,612 votes (18.55 percent)
Paul Newell: 1,381 votes (15.89 percent)
Alice Cancel: 1,069 votes (12.3 percent)
Don Lee: 984 votes (11.32 percent)
Gigi K. Li: 827 votes (9.51 percent)
98 of 98 precincts reporting

Assembly District 72 — Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill

Carmen N. De La Rosa: 4,414 votes (46.2 percent)
George Fernandez: 780 votes (8.16 percent)
Guillermo Linares: 3,099 votes (32.44 percent)
85 of 85 precincts reporting

And a look at the rest of the contested races in Manhattan, which ended in landslides for the incumbents:

Assembly District 69 — Morningside Heights and Upper West Side

Daniel J. O'Donnell: 6,965 votes (73.31 percent)
Steven M. Appel: 1,888 votes (19.87 percent)
107 of 107 precincts reporting

Assembly District 67 — Upper West Side

Linda B. Rosenthal: 7,453 votes (94.4 percent)
Eugene G. P. Byrne: 270 votes (3.42 percent)
104 of 104 precincts reporting

Assembly District 66 — Parts of the West Village, SoHo and Tribeca

Deborah J. Glick: 3,151 votes (78.54 percent)
Jim Fouratt: 777 votes (19.37 percent)
94 of 95 precincts reporting

ORIGINAL STORY

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers have started to place their votes to nominate candidates running for local districts in the New York State Legislature. Tuesday's elections are the third primary of this election cycle for New York voters, after voting for presidential nominees in April and Congressional nominees in late June.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will stay open until 9 p.m., so voters should be able to find time to turn out either before or after work.

Check back with Patch when polls close for updated election coverage and results.

Candidates for both the State Senate and State Assembly are on the ballot Tuesday. If you're not sure who currently represents your neighborhood, plug in your address to this helpful online tool created by the New York State Board of Elections. If you need to find out where you should go to vote, you can input your address online here.

Even though Tuesday's election doesn't have big names like Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump on the ballot, the state legislature is still important. Because State Senators and Assembly Members represent relatively small districts that span just a few neighborhoods, they are often more in tune with the problems their constituents face on a daily basis.

In Manhattan, one State Senate seat and five State Assembly seats will be contested during Tuesday's primaries. Often times primary elections in New York City are more competitive than November's general election due to the city's overwhelming population of Democrats.

This year there are a few closely contested races.

Highlights include a four-way race for the open 31st State Senate District and a six-way race for the seat of disgraced former Speaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver. Silver was convicted on corruption charges this year.

Related coverage:

It's Primary Day in Brooklyn: Voting Information and Election Results

Candidates Compete in two Closely Contested Uptown Races

MANHATTAN STATE ASSEMBLY CONTESTED DISTRICTS (Click here for a map of Assembly districts)

Assembly District 72 — Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill

Incumbent: Guillermo Linares, Democrat. Running for re-election.

Democratic Party candidates: Guillermo Linares, Carmen De La Rosa, George Fernandez

Assembly District 69 — Morningside Heights and Upper West Side

Incumbent: Daniel O'Donnell, Democrat. Running for re-election.
Democratic Party candidates: Daniel O'Donnell, Steven M. Appel

Republican Party candidate: Stephen Garrin

Assembly District 67 — Upper West Side

Incumbent: Linda Rosenthal, Democrat. Running for re-election.

Democratic Party candidates: Linda Rosenthal, Eugene G.P. Byrne

Republican Party candidate: Hyman Drusin

Assembly District 66 — Parts of the West Village, SoHo and Tribeca

Incumbent: Deborah Glick, Democrat. Running for re-election.

Democratic Party candidates: Deborah Glick, Jim Fouratt

Assembly District 65 — Parts of Financial District, Chinatown, Lower East Side

Incumbent: Alice Cancel, Democrat. Running for re-election. Cancel was elected in special election on April 19 following former seat holder Sheldon Silver's corruption conviction.

Democratic Party candidates: Alice Cancel, Paul Newell, Don Lee, Jenifer Rajkumar, Gigi Li, Yuh-Line Niou

Republican Party candidate: Bryan Jung

Green Party candidate: Manny Cavaco

MANHATTAN STATE SENATE CONTESTED DISTRICTS (Click here for a map of Senate districts)

Senate District 31 — Parts of Midtown, the Upper West Side, Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.

Incumbent: Adriano Espaillat, Democrat. Running for U.S. Congress.

Democratic Party candidates: Micah Lasher, Marisol Alcantara, Robert Jackson and Luis Tejada

Republican Party candidate: Melinda Crump

Conservative Party candidate: John Toro

Green Party candidate: Julia Willebrand

Photo Credit: Patch